Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) was a company in Apollo , Pennsylvania , operating a facility for processing uranium for use in nuclear reactors , such as submarine propulsion systems. It was founded by chemist and inventor Zalman Shapiro in 1957. The plant was later acquired by Babcock & Wilcox . The site is currently being rehabilitated from the contaminated sites from $ 170 million in tax revenue.

Apollo affair

The US Atomic Energy Commission found in 1965 that 91 kilograms of highly enriched uranium had disappeared from the facility. Uranium is considered highly enriched when it is B. contains more than 20 percent of the 235 isotope. Further losses were identified following the acquisition of the facility by Babcock & Wilcox. The US Department of Energy puts the loss at 269 kilograms (590 lb) of uranium in the period up to 1968 and another 76 kg (170 lb) thereafter, for a total of 345 kg of uranium-235 . Visits by an Israeli agent to the company could indicate that the uranium was brought from the United States by Israeli intelligence agencies.

Movie and TV

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obama Asked to Delay NUMEC Founder Award over Nuclear Weapons Material Diversions to Israel - IRmep. December 22, 2010 ( online )
  2. ^ Office of the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs (January 2001), Highly Enriched Uranium: Striking A Balance - A Historical Report On The United States Highly Enriched Uranium Production, Acquisition, And Utilization Activities From 1945 Through September 30, 1996. (Revision 1 (Redacted For Public Release) ed.), US Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, p. 107 ( online ; PDF; 59.7 MB)
  3. ↑ Grant F. Smith: Divert! NUMEC, Zalman Shapiro and the diversion of US weapons-grade uranium into the Israeli nuclear weapons program. 2012, ISBN 978-0982775707
  4. ^ Michael Salewski: The Nuclear Century: An Interim Balance. Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998, ISBN 978-3-515-07321-9

Coordinates: 40 ° 35 ′ 10.4 ″  N , 79 ° 34 ′ 3.5 ″  W.